Being the Right Kind of Church--a Missional Church

Introduction

Turn with me in your Bibles to Acts 1.

In the coming weeks, you will be searching for a pastor—someone to lead your church into the next phase of its life and growth. As Jennifer and I will be stepping away soon to prepare to return to PNG, I want to take this opportunity to prepare you for the process to come. In the weeks to come, we’ll talk about what to look for in a godly pastor and things like that.

But before we get to that, I want to take some time to flip the question around a bit. Before a church starts asking the question “What should we look for in a godly pastor?” I think that it is important that the church first ask themselves, “What is a godly pastor looking for in a church?”

When I was dating, I worried myself constantly about finding “the one”—that one special woman that God had handpicked for me to marry. I thought that if I could find that woman, the one handpicked by God to be my spouse, I was sure to enjoy wedded bliss the rest of my life.

Some of you are probably snickering to yourself because you realize the naivete of my assumption—just because you find the right person doesn’t mean you’ll enjoy wedded bliss. And somewhere along the way—I can’t recall if it was a personal epiphany or if someone spoke wisdom into my life—I realized a crucial truth about marriage. A happy marriage is less about finding the right spouse than it is about being the right spouse.

You see, many marriages end up in divorce because people were so focused on finding the right spouse that they forgot to be the right spouse. They put the entire burden of a happy marriage on their spouses shoulders and then, when things aren’t going well, they assume, “Well, I must have chosen the wrong person.” But, most of the time if they had focused more on being the right spouse their marriage probably would have not only survived, but thrived.

FCF: Churches often do the same thing. They spend weeks or months, sometimes years, praying and searching for the right man to lead their church. But very few spend that time reflecting on themselves and what kind of church they are and need to be. So, eventually, they get a pastor and then they burn him out because they put all the burden of growing a healthy church on him, and he just can’t do it alone.

Main Idea: We’re going to talk about how to find the right pastor, because it is important. But even more important than finding the right pastor is being the right church. A godly church is like a beautiful godly woman—a godly man can’t help but be attracted to her.

Scripture Introduction: So this morning, we’re going to start a little mini-series to answer that question: “What does it mean to be a godly church?” And in Acts chapter 1 we’ll see part of that answer: A godly church is a missional church.

Acts 1:1–11 ESV

1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. 4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Prayer for Illumination

Transition: Remember, we’re trying to answer this question: “What does it mean to be a godly church?” And in this chapter we see part of the answer: A godly church is a missional church. So, what does it mean to be a missional church?

A missional church has its focus on the right Kingdom.

The disciples still didn’t understand the purpose of Jesus’ mission

They still thought he was going to oust the Romans and set up a new political kingdom and appoint them all as governors or rulers.

2,000 years later, Israel is entangled in trying to restore itself to its glory days

Many Israelis believe that, so long as a Mosque sits on the location of the old temple, they can’t properly worship God.

Their Messiah has come and gone and flipped the entire system on its head, but they missed it.

Ecclesiastes 7:8 ESV

8 Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

Ecclesiastes 7:10 ESV

10 Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?” For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.

Most churches today aren’t all that different.

Most churches are more focused on the political stage and political wars than they are on the spiritual war going on around them.

Many Christians are more concerned with standing with Israel in the political wars against its Palestinian and Arab neighbors than they are about the spiritual war that Satan has waged against the souls of Israel’s people.

Most churches are more worried about rescuing their neighbor from the clutches of the Democratic party than they are from the chains of Satan, or worse, they’ve been deceived into equating the two!

If 'we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places,’ then why are so many Christians worried more about the rulers in Congress and the physical wars going on?

Ephesians 6:12 ESV

12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

A missional church has its focus on the right kingdom—the Kingdom of Heaven.

A missional church testifies to unbelievers here, there, and everywhere about what Christ has done.

Here, there, and everywhere. It’s ‘AND’, not ‘OR’

Jerusalem, Judea & Samaria, and the end of the earth represent an ever expanding circle of missionary influence that followers of Christ are expected to exert.

Jesus didn’t say, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, OR Judea and Samaria, OR to the end of the earth,” he said “AND”.

The Church doesn’t have the option of choosing one over the other. God’s mission is to make a people for himself from every tribe, tongue, and language—both English and Mubami, both American and Papua New Guinean.

It’s commonly argued that churches are more willing to engage in foreign missions than local missions. I don’t buy that. I don’t think they’re really doing either.

They might send money to foreign missionaries, but few are actually engaged in the work (praying, actively supporting and encouraging their workers, viewing their missionaries as partners and extensions of their church in a foreign land)

Churches do the same here—they pay their pastor to win their community to Christ, but they don’t get involved in the work themselves.

It’s not as if a church can be involved in foreign missions and not local missions, or vice-versa. There’s ONE mission. You’re either involved in it or not.

A church with this kind of ‘pay someone else to do it’ mentality probably isn’t active in missions either here OR abroad.

We bear witness to what Christ has done, not to our own experiences.

Personal testimony is all well and good, and certainly has its place in evangelism, but our primary job is to testify to what Christ has done on the cross.

In our age of relativism, personal testimony is considered valid, but doesn’t necessarily have any bearing upon someone else. It’s likely to be viewed by the hearer as ‘your truth.’

People need to know that Jesus is ‘THE way, THE life, and THE truth.’ They need to know that there is a holy standard by which they will be judged, not whatever arbitrary standard they’ve set for themselves. They need to know that there is a Creator who has the right to demand a reckoning from them. That they have sinned and that there is a penalty for their sins. That Christ has paid that penalty. That they can never be good enough or do enough penance to pay off their debt, that only Christ can save them.

THAT message, the objective truth, not your personal testimony, is the Gospel, and only it can save. That is what we are called to bear witness to. Personal testimony is only valid insofar as it supports that message. When we jump to personal testimony first, we can actually end up giving credence to the modernists’ line of thought, that it’s really all about what works for you.

Transition: A missional church testifies to unbelievers here, there, and everywhere about what Christ has done, and...

A missional church testifies through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Breathing life into dead souls is not something you can do by yourself with clever reasoning or the latest gospel tract.

We often fall prey to the thinking that we need to find the perfect gospel presentation, memorize it, and repeat it verbatim.

But Jesus didn’t do that, nor did the disciples and apostles. They varied their gospel presentation based upon what was needed in that moment. In short, they allowed the Holy Spirit to guide them in their evangelism.

Ichabod Spencer was an American pastor and evangelist in New York in the early 1800’s. He is best known for his remarkable success in evangelism. He recorded many of his pastoral and evangelistic encounters into a book which was titled A Pastor’s Sketches: Conversations with Anxious Souls Concerning the Way of Salvation.

Perhaps the most surprising, and yet, effective, strategy which Spencer used was his practice of patience and restraint. Spencer knew when to stop talking in a conversation and let the Holy Spirit do His work, and was unafraid to leave a conversation unfinished and resume it another day if he sensed that the person was not quite ready to commit to Christ. Spencer rarely saw an unbeliever converted during their first evangelistic encounter, but often left the conversation on a note of pleading only to find a few weeks later that shortly thereafter the person had trusted Christ. Contrary to most Christians' inclination to coerce a person into repentance, Spencer recognized this as the job of the Holy Spirit and left it to Him.

In one instance, Spencer had asked a man "What is the state of your feelings on the subject of your salvation?" to which the man replied, "I feel that I have a very wicked heart." Discerning that the Holy Spirit was at work convicting this man of his sin, Spencer's only reply was to "drive the arrow deeper" by saying "It is a great deal more wicked than you think it." (152) Upon concluding this sentence, he departed to speak to the next person awaiting his attention.

Most Christians would object to such a method as leaving the conversation incomplete, but the young man later came to Christ. After he converted, he told Spencer:

I am confident if you had said much to me, or anything, to turn my mind away from that one thing, it would have done me hurt. You have no idea how much you increased my trouble that night. I somehow wanted you to lighten my burden--you made it heavier. Then I was soon led to see that none but God could help me. I had partly begun to think my heart was improving. I found out the contrary, and turned to God in despair. He gave me peace, through Jesus Christ. (153-54)

Spencer, Ichabod. A Pastor’s Sketches, Vestavia Hills, AL, Solid Ground Christian Books, 2002, 285 pp.

The power of the Spirit is what enables bold evangelism.

Throughout the book of Acts, whenever it says that the Holy Spirit filled someone, what follows is always a bold proclamation of the gospel.

Acts 4:31 ESV

31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

A missional church lives and works like it believes Christ will return.

Don’t just stand around staring at heaven! Get to work!

Many Christians think that being ready for the return of Christ means interpreting the ‘signs of the times’ and anxiously awaiting his return. Ironically, that seems to be exactly the opposite from what Christ actually said in Matthew 24!

Matthew 24:36–51 ESV

36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. 37 For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. 42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. 45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? 46 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 47 Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. 48 But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ 49 and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, 50 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know 51 and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Jesus isn’t saying that you should try to interpret the signs of the times and anticipate when Christ will return so that you can be ready for it. What he is saying is that you won’t be able to anticipate it. Life will be going on as usual. It will be completely unexpected. So, you should live EVERY day as if it might be the day when he returns!

What would you want to be doing when Christ returns? Standing there staring at the sky drooling? Or pleading with your neighbor to accept Christ before it’s too late? Wringing your hands about how things are so much worse than they used to be? Or praising God for what he’s done for you?

Conclusion

Christ might return before you get a pastor. As a church, you can’t afford to just sit passively by waiting for God to bring you the right man. You must wait on God, but that doesn’t mean you do nothing. Take this time that God has given you to focus on becoming a more godly, missional church. As a church, do you have your focus on the right Kingdom? Are you testifying here, there, and everywhere about what Christ has done? Are you depending upon the Holy Spirit and living as if any day Christ could return?

Missional churches are comprised of missional individuals and missional families. Are you and your family reaching out to those around you? Fathers, what is your vision for your family? Mothers, what is your vision for your children? Church, what is your vision for your neighborhood and for the world?